


I'm not cursed, actually.

by TheHumanRat



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Absolutely., Am I rewriting The Cursed Child?, Fuck Rita Skeeter, My boy Albus, This is definitely going to end up being scorbus too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-06-14 01:32:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15377736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHumanRat/pseuds/TheHumanRat
Summary: Harry Potter and The Cursed Child re-write. I need to fix it.Albus Severus Potter wants to set the record straight after Rita Skeeter sold a fake story to the muggle world, this is his story.(Written in the third person even though the prologue is in first)





	1. Prologue

This is the truth. The real story. No fabrication, only a little kept to myself for privacy reasons.

I am Albus Severus Potter. I exist. We all do. 

Someone sold the story of "The Boy Who Lived" to a woman named JK Rowling and broke the statute of secrecy. It took the muggle world by storm and something crazy happened. You all fell in love with our world. You all fell in love with my dad, which is gross and weird and you should think about your choices more thoroughly. The story was carefully crafted, it was polished and edited but mostly left unchanged from the actual events. Timelines slightly altered, places swapped out... but only so that you would all believe it was fiction.

A few years ago, something even crazier happened. My story got told. Except that my story was sold to Joanne by none other than Rita Skeeter and the Muggle world believes her insanity. I want to fix that, I want you all to know what really happened. I want you all to know that there was so much more to the story. That Scorpius has never, ever had a crush on my cousin. Ew. But, it got made into a stage play and I didn't really know how to fix that. Muggles are queuing up to see the lies told about me, performed on stage. My dad has always said that some of the most loyal fans of his, don't even believe he exists. They're the ones that read between lines in a book to find the real Harry, the one who actually went to Hogwarts. These are the people I worry about, I don't want them to believe "The Cursed Child." I am not cursed.

So yes, my name is Albus Severus Potter and I need to tell the people who matter what really happened. That's why I'm telling the story through a muggle fan-fic writer, you're the ones who always read between the lines. The ones who know the magic is real, even if you don't know that magic exists. If you're reading this, then you matter.

Also, a big fuck you to Rita Skeeter for changing some parts of this story to be way less cool than they actually were. I was occasionally kind of awesome. Dad is reading this over my shoulder and says I can't say that but... he lets people call him "The Boy Who Lived." So, I think I'll keep it in.


	2. Albus Severus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Year One, Platform 9 and 3/4

Albus Severus Potter had about as normal a life as any son of Harry and Ginny Potter could have had. James had always loved the attention his famous parents brought him and Lily had always wanted to follow in their mum's footsteps, Albus just wanted to be left alone to invent things. His parents tended to respect that. He was eleven, so the things he invented were usually inconsequential, but he was going to get better. He was going to create something important, so that he could leave his marks on the world.

The morning that the Potter family was leaving for Kings Cross, Albus was using his newly acquired wand to make sparks appear to the delight of a nine-year-old Lily.

"You shouldn't be doing that you know." James said from the doorway.

Lily darted out of the room, "It wasn't me! Only call the Aurors on Albus."

"Oh great! Thanks Lils, just abandon me to a life in prison!"

James chuckled, "It's mum you should be scared of."

"True. Did you see her face this morning when Lily wouldn't stop begging to come to Hogwarts?"

"I can't believe you're coming to Hogwarts, you're going to ruin all of my street cred!"

"Oh, yes. I'm sure you're very highly regarded James Sirius Potter." Albus tried to keep a straight face but was unable to not snort at his own comment. James thinned his eyes at his brother.

"Just you wait," he warned, "As long as you're not in Slytherin, I'll let you have some of my fame."

"HEY!" Albus whined as James moved away from the doorway to go and finish packing his bags.

Albus was satisfied quickly when he heard his father in the hallway telling James off for teasing him. He turned back to his fully packed trunk and took a deep breath, trying to suppress his grin of excitement. He was excited to go to Hogwarts. Truthfully, he was mostly excited that he never had to do P.E. again. The only sport Albus even understood was Quidditch, which wasn't taught at his muggle primary school, and even that he only played when all of his cousins were complaining that they had an odd number of players. 

"We're leaving in 13 minutes!" Lily called up the stairs, there was a loud groan from James' room.

"I told you to finish packing last night!" Albus called through the wall, sticking his head into the hallway and calling across it, "Mum?! Can you move my trunk?"

His sentence was followed quickly by a loud crack and he yelped when a blue-haired boy appeared in front of him.

"You scared me!"

"Sorry Al, but hello! It's me!"

Albus grinned, throwing himself at his god brother. Teddy caught him with ease, patting his back gently and lifting him off the ground. "Knew you missed me."

"Teddy's home!" Albus yelled as Teddy put him down.

"You are the worst. Now the little one is going to come!"

Teddy was joking, he immediately turned to run down the stairs to meet Lily who was already halfway up them. Albus watched the pair for a second before turning to his mum who had appeared from her bedroom.

"You know? I'm surprised you haven't come up with your own way of transporting the trunks."

"I can't invent everything. I have to leave you some way of feeling helpful!" Albus teased.

"Mmm, if you say so little squirt."            

"Mum! You can't call me that. I'm going to Hogwarts."

"Oh come on, you'll always be my little squirt." Ginny said, her hand on his suitcase and then with a loud crack, both she and the suitcase disappeared.

"Nine minutes!" Lily's voice warned loudly from the bottom of the stairs.

Henry squawked and Albus turned to face the tawny owl's cage, "Don't make a fuss... I'm going to remember to take you with me. I promise."

Henry turned his head away from Albus as if he didn't believe him and Albus rolled his eyes. He pulled his glasses away from his face and rubbed his eyes, they hadn't even left yet and it already felt like a long day. He picked the owl cage up and held it close to his chest, mumbling to the bird inside that he was being stupid. The comment earnt Albus a particularly hearty peck to the chest, which only caused him to grumble at the owl more as he walked down the stairs carefully.

A few more time warnings from Lily and the car was packed. Six people, two trunks, two owls and a broomstick. It was lucky really that the car was magically enlarged because there was no way everything and everyone would have fitted otherwise. It was a 47 minutes drive, Albus knew because Lily actually counted. If he had guessed, he would have said he spent much longer squeezed between Lily and Teddy in the back seat. It had felt much closer to a few hours.

Platform 9 & 3/4 was as busy as it had always been but it wasn't something the Potters got to notice. People moved out of the way for them and by the time all their cousins had joined the fray, there was enough of them that the platform just seemed busy with their family. Albus tried to keep his eye on Lily, he was weirdly protective of his little sister, though they were pretty close in age. Lily quickly filled the space next to Hugo, the pair were often seen together, stuck side-by-side. The family quickly descended into chaos. Albus stood with his back to the train, watching the train-wreck that was his entire extended family.

"Everyone is looking at us!"

"It's me! I'm very famous you know."

"Shut up Ron!"

"Everyone always looks at us."

"Has anyone seen Victoire?"

"I can't wait until Lorcan and Lysander start, so we can see Aunt Luna more!"

"Stop! Roxanne and Fred, no arguing!"

"Dominique, don't get on the train without giving your mother a hug please."

"Rose! Don't leave without your cat. She's evil!"

"James, you take that back right now. She is not!"

"You are not sneaking onto the train Lily Luna Potter. I see you."

"Hugo, do you need your wheelchair?"

"All the children who are going to Hogwarts should be getting on the train now!"

"No, Teddy you cannot steal Victoire, she has an entire year left at Hogwarts."

"Albus is going to be in Slytherin."

Albus looked around for the source of that comment, "James! Stop saying that!"

It wasn't that he was against being in Slytherin. It wasn't like he would magically become evil just from being in that house, the houses weren't even as important as they had been when his dad was at school. The issue was the _way_ James said it, like it was a bad thing, like it would mean that people would stop being proud of him. James was right after all, there was a big likelihood that Albus would be in Slytherin. He'd be the first Potter to not be in Gryffindor in forever, but that didn't have to be a bad thing, did it?

"Albus.." Harry said carefully, catching his arm as everyone else clambered onto the train.

"Mmm?"

"You know it's alright, wherever you get placed."

"Yeah, I know. But what if I am in Slytherin?"

"Albus Severus," Harry said quietly, so that nobody but Ginny could hear, and she was tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Rose, who was now on the train, "you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

"But just say-"

"-then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."

"Really?"

"It did for me," said Harry.

Albus bit his lip, he knew about Albus and Severus of course, he knew that people weren't black and white. That houses didn't really colour your future. Merlin was a Slytherin after all and look at all the great and wonderful things he did. Would he sway the hat if he got the chance? Would he ask to be placed in Gryffindor for the sake of ease? He wasn't sure. He wasn't so far from finding out though, he turned to follow Rose onto the train.


	3. Scorpius Hyperion

"This is it Al." Rose said when he joined her on the train, "This is where our parents met."

"I don't think... like, if we meet people on the train, they don't have to be our friends for the next twenty-five years."

"They don't have to be! But they could be..."

Rose stepped forwards with purpose, most of the first years were crowded by the doors to wave to their parents and the older kids had all found their seats already. They were the only ones left to walk down the aisle of the train. She glanced into every compartment, finally stopping at one that looked empty. Albus had just followed, he really didn't believe that it mattered that much who they sat with on the train.

"This one looks empty, should we try to find other peo-" Rose was cut off before she could finish her question.

"Not empty! Hello!"

The boy who had spoken stood up from where he had been knelt on the floor trying to shove his trunk closed. He put his hand through his white blond hair before holding his hand out to shake Albus'. They shake hands but neither of them introduce themselves so when he holds out his hand to Rose, she actually laughs.

"I'm Rose, Rose Weasley. This is my cousin Albus, and you are?"

"Oh yes," the boy grins, retracting his hand "My name is Scorpius. Uh, Scorp for my friends."

"Hi Scorp," Albus starts but he is quickly interrupted by his cousin.

"Scorpius as in Malfoy?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yep. Yes. Scorpius Malfoy. How did you know?"

"My dad talked about you, he said that the Malfoys..." Rose trailed off, looking to Albus, "I don't think we should stay in this compartment." she turned back to Scorpius, "Look, it's nothing against you Scorpius, I just don't think my parents would be particularly impressed by me being friends with you. Plus, you'll probably be in Slytherin, and I'll probably be in Gryffindor. So there might be no point anyway."

"Whatever you heard, I don't think it's true." Scorpius' face had fallen, his voice barely audible over the noise of the train.

"Your father... wasn't he a death eater." Rose said, looking to Albus with urgency in her eyes.

"My dad, he was... well, he was... I guess technically. But he says he saw the truth before the end of the war and..."

"But he was a death eater, and I'm not sure how I feel about that." Rose said firmly, turning to leave.

Albus turned to follow her but for some reason, he couldn't. Instead, he took a step backwards into the compartment with Scorpius.

"I think I'll stay. Go and find my brother or something. I'm staying here."

Rose opened her mouth to argue, but something about the way he was looking at her must have changed her mind. Her mouth clamped shut and she gave him a small smile as she left. Albus knew that Rose probably felt guilty for leaving, so if anything him staying only served to make her feel better.

Albus held out his hand to shake Scorpius' once more, "I'm Albus, Albus Potter."

"Scorpius Malfoy." Scorpius grinned, glad for the chance to reintroduce himself.

"Do you need help with that?" Albus pointed down at Scorpius' trunk.

"Uh, I mean... no but yes. Yes please. I packed too much stuff."

"Why did you open it?"

"To get my sweets out." Scorpius indicated a large pile of candy on the seat behind him.

Albus laughed and knelt down next to the trunk, "I'll push, you lock it."

That's what they did and it felt to Albus like more was clicking than just the lock on the trunk. They shared their sweets and made dumb small talk for a while and then Albus decided to bring up something that Rose had said, actually the thing that had made Albus stay.

"Hey Scorp? Do you think you'll be in Slytherin?" Albus asked.

"I think..." Scorpius thought for a moment then made solid eye contact with Albus, "I hope so. I know some people think- well I just... I know the houses don't matter so much. Dad would probably be proud though."

"That's how I feel but about Gryffindor, think I'm going to be in Slytherin though."

"I hope so... I mean, if it's okay with you? We'd make a good team in the same house."

Albus smiled. Maybe Rose did have a point? Not about Scorpius, Slytherin or even the death eater thing, but maybe you were supposed to meet your best friend on the train. He wondered if that was stupid, wanting to be friends with a Malfoy. The train of thought was interrupted with an offer of exploding snap.

In the six hours that it took to get to Hogwarts from Kings Cross Station, he told Scorpius things that he had never really voiced out loud, and the silver-eyed boy seemed to do the same.

Albus told Scorpius about how his family were great but sometimes it felt a little too much like a show for the press. Not that it wasn't real, just that everyone was always watching him to see what great things he would do. He admitted that his mum and dad didn't expect anything of him, only that he be kind and good, and that helped but it was still a lot to deal with. He told Scorpius how much it annoyed him when James used his family name to get things, and how guilty he would feel if he ever did that.

Scorpius told Albus how he was a little terrified of coming to school because of the reaction Rose had, and how he didn't blame her. Scorpius was just as angry about his dad's involvement in the war as anyone else. But, he also just loved his dad and knew what a good man he had become, how he had signed up to be an Auror at the first chance he got. He had seen how much the man loved his mother.

Albus hadn't smiled and laughed this much in forever. It wasn't like he didn't love his family, of course he did! He loved being around them. He loved spending time with Teddy and his parents, he even loved to bicker with his siblings; they just didn't always understand him. The train ride from Kings Cross to Hogwarts seemed to take less time than the car ride to Kings Cross. Which was crazy. Impossible. That's how it felt though.

The sun was setting and the train was slowing down, only then did Scorpius and Albus realise they hadn't changed into their robes. They rushed to shove the clothes on and then turned to face each other, bursting into laughter almost immediately. Scorpius had managed to put his cloak on inside out and Albus had no idea how to tie his tie. Scorpius teased him relentlessly, but he did help him with the tie. Then they both put effort into trying to shut Scorpius' trunk again.

When they got off the train, Albus pulled Scorpius by the hand to the front of the group of First Years where he knew his cousin would be.

"Hey Al! Hey Scorpius." Rose was tying her hair back up with a hair tie, "Good train ride?"

"Have you guys uh, ever seen Hogwarts before?" Scorpius asked, standing on his tiptoes as if he might actually be able to see it when there was a wall in the way.

Rose nodded and Albus explained, "We used to come with dad, when he does those 'We're all in this together' speeches."

"And we came a couple of years ago when Teddy got hurt." Rose reminded Albus.

"But we've never seen it from the Lake, mum says there's nothing like it. You can see the whole castle."

Rose was about to reply but they turned the corner at that moment, her breath caught in her throat. Albus stumbled a little but Scorpius actually gasped, as did most of the kids around them. Everyone moved to the boats and got in them carefully, but no-one took their eyes off the castle. Each window was lit with a golden light and the building looked like it was floating above them, though they knew it was simply sitting on the mountain. It was as if the castle itself had cast a silencing spell on all of the first years.

It only got more magnificent as the boats got closer but eventually people got used to the sight and got back to whispering about the houses and the sorting ceremony, Albus could hear someone talking about how they were going to win the house cup already. Albus could only grin and gently hit Scorpius' arm in excitement, the boys nod in reply was probably meant to mean 'I know!' - but neither of them needed to say anything.

They shuffled off the boats and onto dry land, into the castle and finally right into The Great Hall itself.

"I'd read about it, but I didn't think the ceiling would look so real." Scorpius said.

Albus looked up, he had seen this before of course but something about Scorp's excitement made him whisper back "Isn't it beautiful?"

He held his hand up to wave at his godfather Neville, who was sitting at the long table in the front of the hall. He looked over to the Gryffindor table and found most of his family grinning at him, looking to the Hufflepuff table to find Fred and Roxanne and then to the Ravenclaw table to find Victoire who grinned and did a thumbs-up at him. When he turned his attention back to Scorpius, the boy was looking at the table that was donned in green, the only one Albus hadn't looked at yet.

"It's gonna be fine. I'm coming with you." Albus said, his words quiet enough to only be for Scorpius.

"You can't promise that Al."

"I can. I did."

"You don't have to do that!"

Albus was distracted from replying because Rose's name was called, he watched as she was put into Gryffindor and got devoured into a sea of Potters and Weasleys. There was one more for Gryffindor, one for Slytherin and two for Hufflepuff and then Scorpius was called.

"Malfoy, Scorpius."

"You'll be fine." Albus promised; it was true because at that moment, Albus would have followed Scorpius into any house.

"SLYTHERIN!" the hat declared after a little deliberation and Scorpius ran off to the table, gaining a few cheers and a good amount of clapping.

The sorting hat was sometimes fast, sometimes slow. It took almost 5 minutes on one girl, but it always made a decision. One more Gryffindor, two for Ravenclaw and a Hufflepuff. Albus was busying wondering if anyone had ever been unsortable when his name was called.

"Potter, Albus."

Scorpius had been right when he said he didn't have to do that, the sorting hat had barely touched his head when it shouted "SLYTHERIN!"

Albus was unprepared for the silence that followed. He had known it would kind of be a big deal, he was a Potter. He wasn't stupid. This was a little quieter than he had anticipated though. He gulped, heading towards the Slytherin table to a smattering of applause. Suddenly there was someone whooping behind him, he'd recognise James' voice anywhere and he grinned when Scorpius joined James' cheering. At the moment, the only approval he needed were his brother's and his new friends. He sat at the table and watched the last few people get sorted. Now, all he had to think about was how good the food would be.

Professor McGonagall now moved from where she had been calling student's names to the head teacher's podium. She kept her speech short, probably realising that everyone wanted to eat. Reminding everyone that the Forbidden Forest was in fact forbidden and welcoming the new students.

The food appeared. Neither Scorpius and Albus had grown up poor so they had seen tables full of food before, but this took both of them by surprise even so. It seemed impossible that this much food would fit up and down the table, impossible that the plates could be that filled. They dug in eagerly. There was chatter across the entire hall, everyone seemed happy and content that they were back at Hogwarts.

Towards the end of the meal, students started to get up from their tables and move to the other house tables to see their friends. James came over to Albus and the younger boy could not have been more relieved when he hugged him.

"I can't believe you're actually in Slytherin, a regular traitor." James said with a cheeky grin.

"Shut your pie hole would you? I'm trying to eat in peace."

"Who's your new friend Albus?"

Scorpius held his hand out to James, "Hello! You must be James... oh and I'm Scorpius."

"Oh, a Slytherin and a Malfoy." James raised an eyebrow at Albus as he shook Scorpius' hand.

Scorpius' face dropped but Albus just shook his head, "Scorp, he's joking. Giving me a hard time. You're fine."

The Great Hall started to empty out, the older kids wanted to get back to their dorms. After a little while, a boy stood up at the end of the Slytherin table.

"Slytherin first years! Follow me!"

The dungeons were cold, Albus started to doubt his house was actually the right one.

"The password is simple for the first few weeks so that you don't forget it," the prefect was saying from the front of the group as he stopped in front of a wall, "you can tell where the common room is if you forget exactly where because there's a little snake on the ceiling."

He pointed up and there was indeed a tiny coiled, stone snake in the crevice between the wall and the ceiling. Albus worried that the password would be 'pureblood' or something equally offensive as it had been in his father's days at Hogwarts. It wasn't.

"The password is 'Welcome'."

As he spoke, the wall moved. It wasn't a particularly astounding piece of magic, but the room behind it was. Even before they were inside, Albus could feel the warmth coming from the fire. The common room was tall and long; it glowed green under the green-yellow lamps on the wall. There were intricate carvings all along the stone walls and paintings above those. Scorpius gasped and Albus turned to him quickly, following his eyes up to the ceiling and gasping himself. Mermaids. Real, actual mermaids. He wondered how his father had never mentioned this but then he guessed his father had never had reason to look up. The entire ceiling was made of glass and they must be under the Black Lake because there were at least twenty mermaids swimming above them. Looking down at them.

By the time they were up in their dormitory, they were tired and Albus was pretty sure Scorpius was asleep before his head even hit the pillow. Albus let Henry out of his cage and wrote a short note to his father.

_Dad,_

_The Slytherin common room is more beautiful than you ever described. I hope this reaches you before James' or Neville's or anyone else's letters. I want to be the one that tells you. You were right, Slytherin isn't so bad and I feel better knowing that no-one is angry at me, even if James is teasing me relentlessly. I'm already making friends._

_Love, Al_

He climbed up onto his bed to open the window, he could see that only half the room was above water, which was why the window was so high. He shooed Henry out and then shut it. Everyone else was asleep and Albus joined them.


	4. Tom Marvolo

**_September_ **

The year started off well. Scorpius and Albus were in all the same classes and half of their classes were with Gryffindor so they got to spend time with Rose too. Rose had warmed up to Scorpius considerably and sometime during their second week at Hogwarts had taken to calling him Scorp.

It started to go wrong about three weeks in. Albus didn't really notice until Scorpius was sat in the Slytherin common room and refusing to come to class. He had overheard the whispers and knew that there were ridiculous rumours flying around, but he hadn't realised it was actually affecting Scorpius.

"You did hear what they're saying about me right?"

"Scorp, I know. But it's not true, we both know that."

"Do you though?"

"You think that I think that you're Voldemort's son?"

Albus wanted to laugh, it was ridiculous. There really was a rumour floating around that Draco and Astoria hadn't been able to conceive so they had gone back in time to get Astoria pregnant... by Voldemort. It was the weirdest and most twisted rumour that Albus had ever heard. It made no sense and didn't have any basis; people believed it. It frustrated Albus that Scorpius could even think he was stupid enough to believe it.

"Well, do you?"

"Oh yes. I do actually, my whole family agrees and that's why I'm still your friend."

"Don't- stop being stupid Albus."

"I don't care!" Albus knelt down in front of Scorpius, "I don't care. I don't care if people think you're Voldemort's son or Hitler's son-"

"Who's Hitler?"

"Don't worry about it, just listen. I have a point." Albus promised, resting his hands on Scorpius' knee, "I don't believe it, and I don't care what people think. Hell, I wouldn't care if it were true!"

"That's just a lie and we both know it."

"No it's not. Do you think Rose is any less a witch because she's a half-blood?"

"You know I don't!" Scorpius looked offended by the very idea of it.

"Do you think my Aunt Hermione is any less of a witch because she's muggleborn?"

"I don't know her, but she's, I mean... she's the Minister of Magic and she helped defeat Voldemort. She's got to be an amazing witch."

"Right. So, what does it matter? I don't care who's blood you've got in you... not if you don't believe the same things as them."

If what Albus had said wasn't strictly true, it didn't matter. Since the rumour was so ridiculous and so ridiculously false. Albus might have had second thoughts if Scorpius was really

Scorpius nodded, "But for the record, you don't believe it?"

"The time-turners were all destroyed. I don't believe it."

"Everyone is still saying it."

"I know." Albus sighed and moved from his spot on the floor to sit beside Albus, "You realise you're going to miss Charms and you actually like Charms right?"

"Rose can teach us it later."

"Oh, I'm skipping class too am I?"

"Are you?"

"Yep."

**_October_ **

_Dear Albus,_

_You can't keep skipping class, I know it must not be fun to have rumours like that flying around Scorpius but you're at Hogwarts to learn. Lily misses you and will be delighted to have you back for Christmas, you need to have lots of stories to tell her. You won't get those cooped up in the Slytherin Common room and then she'll never leave you alone._

_All my love, Mum_

Albus hated when his mum was right, but she often was. The short letter he had received meant that he could no longer avoid the world and if he didn't, Scorp couldn't either. Along with actually going to all their classes came homework, but luckily Rose actually paid attention in class and she didn't mind meeting them in the library to _help_ them with theirs.

"-actually his son."

Scorpius froze up, so although Albus had only heard the very end of the sentence, he knew exactly what the third-year Ravenclaw boy had been talking about.

"What were you saying?" he turned away from his essay to ask the boy, tilting his head as if he was genuinely intrigued.

"Nothing," the boy said far too quickly, his face reddening considerably.

"Nothing." Rose said curiously from beside Albus, "You should keep it that way."

"Guys, thank you, but the library really isn't a good place to argue with people." Scorpius whispered.

"We weren't arguing," Rose said softly. "We were reminding him that people can actually hear him lying."

Albus watched Scorpius straighten up slightly and felt better instantly. The rumour was stupid and impossible, but some people really did believe it and he could see that it upset Scorpius so it was good to see him cheer up, even if only a little.

**_November_ **

Like all things that happen when you're between eleven and seventeen, eventually the rumours about Scorpius were left alone. People probably still thought about them but they found more interesting things to talk about. Like the fact that every common room except the Slytherin common room had recently been stink-bombed.

Everyone had their opinions on what happened, most suspecting a Slytherin due to the lack of stink-bombs in their common room. Albus wasn't an idiot though, he could see a Potter Prank a mile away. He imagined James had only left the Slytherin common room alone because he hadn't managed to get the password out of his younger brother. He had asked once at the beginning of the year and both Albus and Scorpius had been adamant that they had forgotten it.

The rest of the school could suspect Slytherin if they wanted but James would have known the password for the Gryffindor common room, he could have answered the riddle for the Ravenclaw common room or sweet-talked Victoire and the Hufflepuff common room was open to anyone who knew it's location.

He had started telling everyone who would listen to his theory but quickly realised this only made him seem more like the culprit.

**_December_ **

"Hello Mrs Malfoy." Albus said when he stepped off the train and followed Scorpius to his mother.

"Oh, please. You make me sound old. You can call me Astoria, love," she had replied as Scorpius hugged her without saying hello.

"Al! Are you coming home with us?" Rose had called across the platform then.

Albus rolled his eyes at the girl even though she couldn't see him, "Scorp, I gotta go. Bye! See you next week. It was lovely to meet you Mrs- I mean, Astoria!"

He scampered away from Scorpius and went to greet his own family, getting a hug from all the adults.

***

It had been decided that Scorpius would visit the Potter house after New Year's Eve so that they could spend the last week of the holiday together. Albus had easily convinced his parents, claiming that Scorpius would feel much better about the rumours from early in the year if he met Albus' family. Scorpius had just begged and begged his parents.

Scorpius was glad that his parents had decided that it was okay in the end. As much as he loved Christmas and his parents, the entire event was a bit bizarre once his grandparents got involved. Albus was just glad because he missed his friend and he had only been away from him for three days. They had already sent 13 notes to each other but Henry was getting tired and Scorpius didn't want to use his family's owl because his parents would think he was being ridiculous.

Christmas for Albus was as hectic as it had always been; that many bodies crammed into the burrow was a disaster waiting to happen. Luckily, disaster didn't hit this year. Gifts were given, drinks were drunk and it led to a merry evening where most the adults and some of the younger kids were spread throughout the house sleeping.

It was a particularly warm winter and so anyone who was awake was sat outside in the back garden around a bonfire that Teddy had created. Lily was the youngest awake and she had wheeled a sleeping Hugo outside in his wheelchair and was now sat on his lap, next to them Teddy and Victoire were sat together whispering to one another. The rest of the Potter-Weasley clan was spaced out on the grass. As Albus looked around at his family, both blood and not, he couldn't help but feel grateful.

**_January_ **

It was weirdly relieving to see Scorpius again. It was hard for Albus to describe but it kind of felt like he and Scorpius had their own friendship bubble that protected them from the hectic outside world. They hugged as soon as Scorpius came through the fireplace and tried not to laugh as their fathers exchanged awkward pleasantries. Ginny and Astoria were much less awkward but there still seemed to be something off.

Scorpius hugged both of his parents quickly, "Okay! You can leave now. I promise to owl if I need anything, thank you for coming with me."

Once awkward introductions had ended and his parents had left, Scorpius made a face at Albus before messing his neatly pulled-back hair up into something more similar to his black-haired friend's.

"I did miss you..." Scorpius admitted later when they were sitting on Albus' bed.

Albus shrugged, "I guess that makes sense."

"Say it!"

"Say what?"

"You know what!"

"I missed you, Scorp, shut up."

**_February_ **

Around Valentine's day, Albus finally realised that James really hadn't been joking about his so-called 'fame'. Albus had seen, in the months between starting Hogwarts and now, a lot of girls around the older boy and a lot of people listening to his boring stories; the Valentine celebrations were much more intense than that. He couldn't spend more than a minute with his older brother before he was handed a card, or chocolate, or sweets... and on worryingly high amount of occasions, stopped by a singing dwarf.

"Don't eat those!" James grabbed the chocolates in an attempt to pull them out of Albus' hand.

"Hey! You already got so much chocolate, it won't hurt you if I eat a little."

"Are you an idiot? It might be laced with Love Potion."

Albus opened his mouth to argue but then frowned, "Really?"

"Don't you remember how Uncle Ron ate some of Dad's chocolate?"

"Yeah but... you're just you. No-one would want to."

James laughed and raised an eyebrow, "Want to risk it?"

**_March_ **

Albus and Scorpius hadn't realised how much they loved the snow until it melted away. There wasn't all that much point being outside when it was still cold but there was no snow to throw at each other.

As such, they only went outside when they had to go to the Greenhouses for Herbology and even then Scorpius would complain about being cold. It wasn't like he wasn't wearing warm clothes, but nine times out of ten he whined. Then, by the time they had walked from the dorms to the Greenhouses for their Tuesday and Thursday morning lessons, Scorpius was wearing Albus' jacket and hat.

"You're a mess Scorpius Malfoy." Albus insisted most days, but he didn't mind really.

**_April_ **

"Exams are soon!" Rose announced one day as she entered the library and sat down opposite her Slytherin friends.

"Exams are in two months... aren't they?" Scorpius looked worried, even as he spoke.

"Yes!" Rose rolled her eyes. "Doesn't that worry you? Only two months and if we fail, we don't get into second year."

"No-one has ever failed the first year exams." Albus didn't even look up from the book he was reading.

"False. Students from 1926, 1954 and 1981 had to re-do their first year and that's only as far back as I researched."

"That's three students in a century," Albus said, finally looking up to make eye contact with Rose. "It won't be us."

"Well," Scorpius wrung his hands together, "could be me, I mean, if it was anyone. Probably me."

"Don't be silly," Rose shook her head, "neither of you are going to fail. Mum helped me write up studying schedules for the three of us."

**_May_ **

The two Slytherin boys might have thought the schedules were hilarious at first but Rose was relentless. They were either in class, in bed or pretending to study so as not to face Rose' wrath. The studying only made Scorpius' anxiety for the exams worse, which was frustrating to Albus who knew that Scorpius was good at magic. Scorpius just wouldn't believe him.

"So, uh as far as I can tell seventeen students have failed their first year exams."

"That's in the entirety of Hogwarts' history! Scorp, you've spent more time researching that than you have learning potions... and you're not going to fail."

"I could though!"

"No. You couldn't, even if you did fail... no-one would want to argue with your father."

Albus was relieved when that made Scorpius laugh a bit. "I'm being dramatic again aren't I?"

"Yes. The most dramatic."

"I'm just, well, I'm worried."

"You don't need to be, you know way more than me."

**_June_ **

The exams weren't quite as easy as Albus was expecting them to be, they probably would have been easier if it hadn't felt like all their teachers were breathing down their necks during them. There was one exam for every subject, some easier than others. At least, some more practical than others.

In Charms, Transfiguration, Potions and Herbology, Albus excelled easily. They were all practical exams. Charms saw him making a tea-cup bounce across the table without cracking and Transfiguration had him transform a mouse into a quill. Easy. Potions and Herbology were a little harder, they had to brew a Wiggenweld potion and extract sap from four different plants. Still, all of these subjects were easier than the written exams for History of Magic, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Astronomy. Just sitting down to answer an exam paper reminded him of his muggle schooling and got him stressed enough that he wasn't sure he had passed.

Luckily, as suspected, everyone in the year passed with flying colours and the end-of-year feast was a happy occasion. Ravenclaw won the house cup which Albus was secretly happy about, since it was Victoire's last year at Hogwarts. Half the school ended up sitting on the Ravenclaw table after going to congratulate their Ravenclaw friends but the Potter-Weasley clan all sat together on the Gryffindor table, Scorpius followed Albus and even Victoire escaped her house's celebrations to join them.

Albus was in a perfectly good mood when he climbed aboard the Hogwarts express the next day. He was in an even better mood when he climbed off and saw his family waiting for him. He almost didn't stop to hug Scorpius good-bye.


	5. Astoria Grace

**_September_ **

The summer ended very suddenly. One moment Albus had been teasing his little sister and writing letters to Scorpius and the next, it was September first again. He finally understood why James hadn't been packed and ready to go last year, this year they had _both_ been scrambling to finish packing their trunks.

Once again they were on Platform 9 and 3/4 and once again it was a hectic mess, but this time Albus wasn't watching his family. He was stood on the edge of the platform watching the entrance, waiting for his friend to arrive. Rose stood with him, and they were both on tip-toes looking over everyone else.

"I can't believe I didn't see Scorpius all summer and you got to see him twice," Rose said, an actual pout appearing on her face.

"Rose and Scorpius sitting in a tree," Lily began to sing, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G..." she trailed off as she had to run away from Rose who had taken a threatening step towards her.

Albus and Rose both laughed, Rose didn't fancy Scorpius. That was obvious. Yet, Albus found himself on a train of thought about whether it was obvious, did Rose fancy Scorp? Probably not, but maybe she did. He was thinking about that when his friend appeared on the platform and Rose ran over to him. Albus moved a second later; Rose didn't hug Scorpius so Albus barrelled straight into the blond boy.

"Al! Rose!" Scorpius laughed, wrapping his arms around Albus for a second and ignoring his father's disapproving glance.

Albus looked around for Astoria but didn't see her, he went to ask Scorpius but the young boy gave a small shake of his head and Albus obeyed it quickly, closing his mouth. He watched as Rose and Scorpius descended into updating each other on every detail of their summer.

Albus turned to face Draco, "It's good to see you again Mr. Malfoy."

He gained a curt nod in reply and he guessed that was practically at the same level as a hug in Draco's books.

Everyone piled onto the train and Albus tried not to ask, but once the train started moving and everyone else was distracted, he had to.

"Is your mum okay?"

Scorpius seemed surprised that Albus had brought it up and nodded, but he had his head down, watching his hands in his lap.

"What's wrong Scorp?"

"She's... ill."

Albus was quiet for a second. "Will she be okay?"

"I don't know. I don't think so."

"You don't think so?"

"I- they won't tell me anything but I heard..." Scorpius curled into himself a little more but moved in his seat so that he was facing towards Albus a little more.

"Hey... it's okay," Albus frowned. "What did you hear?"

"It's a blood curse. It was placed on someone in our family a long time ago and she's always known it was going to kill her."

Albus didn't know what to say, Scorpius continued.

"I heard her telling Dad that she was... she was ready to go."

"Oh Scorp."

"I know."

"Curses can be broken..." Albus said unhelpfully, Scorpius just nodded. If he had really believed that, Scorpius would have told Albus about this in a letter.

They were quiet after that. By the time they got to Hogwarts, they were in better moods, but Albus could still feel the dark cloud hanging over Scorpius. He didn't let himself wonder if the dark cloud was worry for his mum or worry for his own blood.

**_October_ **

Halloween eclipsed everything that year.

Scorpius had been on some kind of rampage to prove himself since September and since the pair were practically inseparable, Albus had been busy too. They were in the choir, which had a million Halloween performances, and Scorpius was running his own 'Spooky Haunted House' which he had Peeves and The Bloody Baron helping out with.

It was really just an empty classroom with some cool spells and a couple of actual ghosts, but it was fun. At least, it was fun for Albus and Scorpius who both knew exactly what would happen at every turn. Other people might have described it as 'terrifying' or 'awful' but people seemed to enjoy it. Even Rose had gone through it, she had come out with her hands shaking and her dark skin a few shades paler than when she had entered.

They collapsed into their beds that night laughing, "I can't believe Lucy cried!"

"I can't believe we made your brother scream."

"We should do it again next year!"

Neither of them realised that this was the first time since September that the two of them had actually been happy.

They would feel guilty for that a few days later.

**_November_ **

_Scorpius my love,_

_I hope Hogwarts is treating you okay, how was Halloween? I've been missing you at home an awful lot. I love you so much._

_Christmas is soon. We'll have a lovely family Christmas. I know you'll want to visit Albus but I think this year maybe we should spend it with just the three of us. No friends or grandparents to ruin our fun. We can decorate the tree together too, I normally do it with magic but I was watching a muggle Christmas film (much to the dismay of your father) and they do it by hand. Maybe we could do that._

_All the love in the world,_

_Mum_

_***_

_Scorpius,_

_Your mother has been taken into St. Mungo's. Make sure your trunk is packed, we don't need you to come home yet but we might soon. Keep your dormitory window open for owls._

_Dad_

"It might not- I mean, she might not be dying," Scorp said helplessly to Albus.

Albus moved to lay next to Scorpius on the bed, "It might not mean anything Scorp."

"They don't even know that I know that she might die. They'd give me more warning than this."

"Probably," Albus whispered, though he wasn't sure.

"Probably," Scorpius repeated, pressing his face into Albus' shoulder.

**_December_ **

Going home for Christmas was hard for both of them, this time not because they would be separated but because they didn't know what was in store.

_Al,_

_Mum is doing okay and she's home with us for Christmas, but they finally told me about the curse. She said that she knew there was nothing she could do and that I shouldn't worry about her but how can I not worry about her? That's stupid, she's stupid! Everything is stupid Albus. I did have a thought though, this curse has been killing women in my family for centuries and I think mum may have accepted it too quickly, she keeps saying there isn't anything we can do but I get the feeling she hasn't tried._

_Could you talk to your Aunt Hermione? She's the cleverest person I know._

_Scorpius._

"Oh Al..." Hermione pulled the young boy in for a hug after reading the letter and then pulled him back to look at him. "I can only do so much okay? I'm the Minister of Magic, not a Goddess."

"But can you do something?" Albus asked, looking into his aunt's brown eyes.

She didn't reply for a moment, pulling her hair back out of her face as she read the letter again, for a moment the older woman looked just like Rose. When she had an idea, she lit up just like Rose too.

"I can't promise anything Albus but I will talk to Astoria and see if there is anything I can do."

***

_Scorp,_

_I told Aunt Hermione and she promised that she would talk to your mum. I'm sorry that I can't do more._

_Al_

**_January_ **

Being back at Hogwarts shouldn't have been a relief for Scorpius, but Albus could see that it was. The other boy wouldn't talk about his own holiday but constantly asked about Albus' as if listening to his friend talk about Christmas would help him forget about his own Christmas.

"Any news from your Aunt?" Scorpius asked in the library one day as they waited for Rose.

Albus sighed. "No, but I think the adults want us left out of it, so maybe something is happening."

"Maybe." Scorpius looked up at the ceiling, but that didn't stop Albus seeing the tears in his eyes.

"Scorp..." Albus leaned closer to the boy, but he didn't know what else to say, he just slipped his hand into the other boy's.

When Rose finally appeared a few minutes later, she took one look at the pair and faked a yawn. "I'm tired guys, shall we skip the homework? I might actually go to bed."

Scorpius was up and out of the library before Albus had even processed the girls words. Albus stood, giving Rose a grateful smile, thanking her quietly as he followed his friend. He found him a few corridors down, leant against the wall and crying so hard that his entire body shook. Albus didn't know what to do.

He stood next to his friend, slipping their hands back together. Scorpius squeezed his hand so tight that Albus thought he might lose his fingers but he didn't care at all because seeing Scorpius like this was the only thing Albus could really concentrate on. Scorpius slowly slid down to sit on the floor and Albus followed him. Neither of them would be able to tell you how long they sat there. The only thing that broke the silence and signalled that either of them was still alive was the occasional sob from Scorpius.

**_February_ **

When the snow melted, Scorpius remembered to wrap himself up warm every day. He never complained about being cold on the way to the Greenhouses and Albus stopped carrying a spare pair of gloves around with him. Albus tried not to worry that Scorpius was mad at him. Scorpius was mad at the world.

It was hard for Albus to balance everything because he wanted to be there for Scorpius, but Scorpius never wanted to be there for anything. Meeting with Rose meant leaving Scorpius alone in their dorm and even doing homework ended up being something he did while wondering how Scorpius was. He had spent a few minutes in the Common Room for a party after Slytherin won a Quidditch match but had quickly retreated to check on his friend. The blond-haired boy only moved for food and classes. Albus wondered if there was anything he could really do.

"I'm just worried about him." Albus whispered to Rose at the Gryffindor table after he hadn't been able to convince Scorpius to come down for breakfast.

Rose nodded. "I know. I don't think you can do anymore than you're doing though, and he's still eating and going to class... most of the time."

"Has your mum said anything?" Albus asked, watching Rose for an answer as she chewed her lip. "Rose?"

"I promised that I wouldn't tell Scorp, in case it got his hopes up."

"Rose! Tell me!"

"They might have lifted the curse. Scorpius' mum says that she feels like it worked... but they don't know yet."

Albus nodded, trying not to grin. He tried to keep the hope at bay, knowing that it wouldn't help Scorpius yet.

**_March_ **

_Scorpius,_

_The curse has been lifted. Your mother is feeling better by the day. She's still feeling too weak to write, but she loves you very much. I love you very much too._

_Dad._

This time, when Scorpius cried, Albus felt like he knew what to do. He climbed onto the bed with Scorpius and wrapped his limbs around the boy. The silence was filled with sobs but it was also filled with mumbled thanks and promises that it was going to be okay.

Albus tried to tell Scorpius that his aunt didn't need to be thanked but Scorpius wanted to thank everyone who had ever been near his mother. He wanted to thank God and Merlin and every healer who had ever worked in a Hospital.

_Scorpius,_

_I'm glad your mother is well. There was no need for your thank you note sweetheart, I really didn't do anything except remind Astoria that curses are not the be all and end all in this day and age. You and your father did the rest._

_Hermione Granger_

**_April_ **

On the first Saturday of April, Albus saw Scorpius laugh for the first time since Halloween. Albus hadn't seen the third year Zabini pour her drink down herself, but she was soaking wet and half the table was laughing. Albus was laughing too but he was really only concentrating on Scorpius. He hadn't realised the relief of seeing him laugh after so long would be so huge. After that, he couldn't help but constantly want the boy to laugh.

He made stupid jokes, he used magic to trip people over and hoped no one would notice. Anything that would make Scorpius laugh, Albus tried. It never occurred to him that this was strange behaviour because he was too busy watching Scorpius laugh, it was Rose that pulled him up on it.

"What's going on with you?"

"What?"

"You think I don't see you constantly using magic to impress Scorpius?"

"It's not..." Albus laughed, looking away from Rose, "It's nothing to do with impressing Scorpius. I just find it funny."

"Talk to me Potter," Rose pressed, turning the page in her book as if she was actually reading it.

"Fine. I just missed him being happy alright? It's been a long year."

"Why in the hell does everyone think that I'm the one that has a crush on Scorpius? It's obviously you."

Albus swatted at her, "Shut your dirty mouth, Weasley!"

They both laughed; neither put forward the fact that maybe she was right.

**_May_ **

"Exams!" Rose said hurriedly as the boys entered the library, "I didn't forget but I was distracted! We're a month behind studying compared to last year!"

"I've been studying all year," Scorpius said sheepishly.

"You have?" Albus turned to the boy, raising an eyebrow.

"You didn't seriously think I just sat in the dorms and did nothing when you were busy?"

Rose shrugged. "Regardless, I have timetables. They're a little less intense than last year, since someone complained so much." Her eyes were on Albus.

Albus grinned, "I wonder who that was."

"Do you ever think it might be easier to drop Albus from this trio?" Rose stage-whispered.

"Fine!" Albus declared dramatically, standing up and swinging his arms out.

"Albus! Stop." Scorpius grinned, bouncing up in his seat to pull Albus back down. "I guess we should keep him."

**_June_ **

They may have had a timetable and Rose bugging them and even Scorpius' determination but when exams came around, Albus had barely done any studying. He passed all of his practical exams with no trouble once again but was genuinely concerned that he hadn't studied hard enough for his written exams. Apparently he passed well enough to get into third year though, and that's all that really mattered to him.

The end-of-year feast rolled around and Albus knew that Slytherin had won the Quidditch Cup due to both Rose and James' near-constant complaining, but he was surprised to hear they had also won the House Cup. Seeing the Great Hall decorated in green brought Albus a sense of satisfaction and he stuck his tongue out at his brother across the hall.

When they got off the train, Scorpius ran to hug his mum and although he came back to say goodbye to Albus, the boy wouldn't have minded if he didn't. Albus was just pleased to be home and pleased to see Scorpius so happy. His second year had been long and weird but luckily not all bad.


End file.
